


Are You or Are You Not

by Mystical_Magician



Series: Into the Dream [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, Mirrormask (2005)
Genre: Crossover, Drabble, Fantasy, Gen, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-30
Updated: 2012-08-30
Packaged: 2017-11-13 04:23:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/499435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystical_Magician/pseuds/Mystical_Magician
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Are you or are you not? Have you the taste of your existence or do you not? Are you within the country or on the border? Are you mortal or immortal? </em>
  <br/><strong>-O.R. Melling, The Book of Dreams</strong>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are You or Are You Not

“Valentine is a very important man, you know,” Helena said softly, after a long while of waiting to see if the wizard behind her would break the silence. “He has a tower.” 

“I see,” Dumbledore replied. 

She wasn’t sure he if he did or not, but she didn’t contest it. “Back again?” she asked with a smile. “Or did you not go the first time.” 

“No, I did. But some of the paintings here are so…so passionate and vivid. Oh, there’s not really a word for it, but there’s a presence in some of these that draws me back. I am very glad you showed me this gallery.” 

“Yes, the dreamers really add something to the gallery,” Helena agreed with a decisive nod. “But I suppose this is what artists do best, bring the magic of our dreams and soul to others.” 

“I do have a question for you, Miss Campbell,” Albus said. 

“Oh?” 

“What are these creatures here?” He gestured to a small, feline creature with a man’s face and thin, tattered wings. 

Helena laughed a little to herself. Of all the questions he could have asked, this was not one she had expected. Of course, perhaps he was realizing that some questions were futile. One either discovered the answers themselves, or they never did. 

“They’re sphinxes. Dangerous when in large groups, if you don’t have a book or two to distract them with. They don’t read books, you know, they eat them. I made that mistake the first time. They’re dangerous alone, too, but then you can distract and confound them with a riddle. They’re not the smartest creatures.” 

She grinned a little as if in reminiscence. 

“A very different type of sphinx than I am used to,” Albus commented. 

“Hmmm. I would expect so,” Helena said absently. 

 

Albus didn’t even notice the other man at first. The area around the gallery was familiar to him, and so he paid very little attention to where he was going. Had he not been heading in the strange man’s direction, he might have bypassed him altogether. 

The stranger looked a bit like himself, he would admit. His beard was a little shorter and grayer than Albus’ own, and he wore rough gray robes, but he would guess by the other’s appearance that their ages were similar. Perhaps most startling at all, he leaned on a staff in the middle of the sidewalk, gazing around him with interest. The Muggles did not appear to see him at all, not even noticing as they swerved around him, never breaking stride. Paying closer attention, he saw the edges of the man seemed to blur, as though he were not quite there. 

“Greetings, my good man,” Albus said cautiously. “I am Albus Dumbledore.” 

The man bowed to him slightly at the courtesy. “I am called many things, but most often Gandalf. Are you one of the wizards of this age?” 

“That I am,” Albus replied, a little taken aback. “If I may ask, what exactly has happened or is happening to you?” 

“Ah,” Gandalf sighed. “I fought the Balrog and smote him at last, but it took too much from me, and now I am lost, straying out of thought and time. I expect I shall be called back soon, but it is not so unpleasant to be lost. I am a wanderer, and this is a most fascinating world. The advancements of the human world…” He trailed off, looking about him at skyscrapers and roads with a sigh. “I do prefer the cleanliness of my home, the untouched forests and rolling plains, but there is so much to learn, all of this new knowledge.” His eyes gleamed with the enthusiasm of a scholar. “Even the magic of this world, is so foreign and transformed from what I know.” 

“There is never enough time to learn new things,” Albus agreed a little wistfully. 

Gandalf smiled kindly at him, the two in complete accord. 

Dumbledore noticed first, the encroaching of a brilliant white light. The pedestrians saw nothing, but they felt it. They straightened, slowed their hurry, and looked about them with an unconscious smile as the light passed through. 

“So,” Gandalf sighed. “It is time already. Back to war and the end of an age, for good or ill.” His fathomless blue eyes looked deep into Albus’ own. “Good fortune to you, Albus Dumbledore,” he said. “It was most fascinating meeting you.” 

“And you as well,” Albus replied. And then Gandalf had disappeared, and the light rushed through him, filling his soul with awe and reverence. He shivered a little, the tremor compounded by the memories of some of the art in the gallery, and decided it was past time to head for home. Albus suddenly and a bit desperately needed grounding in the familiar and – to him – mundane, or he thought he might go quietly mad.


End file.
